What do Egyptians really think of Salah? Win AFCON to be the GOAT

RABAT, Morocco -- Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations run so far has been steady if uninspiring, with the Pharaohs advancing to Saturday's quarterfinal meeting with Ivory Coast by doing enough to move through to the Last Eight.

While the team have largely been unconvincing in victories over Zimbabwe and South Africa, the latter thanks to a questionable penalty, they were held by Angola and required extra time to edge past Benin in the Last 16.

Mohamed Salah arrived at the tournament against a backdrop of unrest and uncertainty at Liverpool. Despite signing a new contract last season, a mixed-zone rant after December's 3-3 draw with Leeds United highlighted a rift between him and head coach Arne Slot, prompting suggestions that his time at Anfield would come to a premature and unhappy end.

At the AFCON, Salah looks to be succeeding in putting his Merseyside misery behind him and setting his sights on winning Africa's grandest prize, a title that has eluded him to date, despite reaching the final in 2017 and 2022.

An evocative knockout clash against the Ivory Coast, the great nemesis of Egypt's Golden Generation, on Saturday provides Salah another opportunity to move closer to the legacy left by the Pharaohs' finest side.

The Egyptian football fraternity are split on whether conquering the continent would help cement the forward's legacy among Africa's all-time great players.

"I think it's nearly the same situation Lionel Messi had with Argentina before winning the Copa America and the World Cup," Egyptian football pundit Ahmed Atta tells ESPN.

"It's a very superficial opinion for many people to think that a trophy -- in fact, just one match, considering they both reached many finals without winning -- can decide whether a player deserves a certain status.

"Winning the AFCON would be just like Messi winning the World Cup, it would close any surface-level debate regarding Salah's legend," he added.

"Messi didn't really need to win the World Cup to prove he's the best in history, and nor does Salah for his legacy.

"If he wins it, so be it; it would be a happy ending to this superficial debate... and it means that Jamie Carragher would stop underestimating him!"

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Emmanuel Adebayor: Jamie Carragher's treatment of Mohamed Salah is disrespectful

Emmanuel Adebayor has labelled Jamie Carragher's treatment of Mohamed Salah as disrespectful.

For sports editor Haytham Mohamed however, success in Morocco is imperative for Salah to be definitively considered among Africa's greatest.

"For Africa, winning the AFCON is always special," he began, "all the great players have won it, so he needs to.

"Maybe this will be his last chance while he's at his peak in Europe, you never know whether next time he'll be at his best, or even where he will be playing, but he needs it really badly and he knows this.

"He knows this is his last chance. He's already one of the best African players of all time, but it's because of what he's done in Europe, not with the national team."

It's a point of view shared, for the most part, by Egyptian football specialist Mahmoud Diaa, who believes that Salah perhaps needs the title more for his reputation in Egypt, rather than his global standing.

"For his legacy in history, if he can [win the title] in 2026, he will be among the best African players ever," Diaa believes.

"He's won the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, the Golden Boot, Player of the Year, Best Playmaker of the Year, everyone knows this.

"However, the AFCON would mean a lot for him and for the Egypt fans as well, I hope he can make it, but I think it will be very hard."

While no Egypt player in history has even come close to matching Salah's achievements with Liverpool, both continentally and in a major domestic league, the shadow of the country's greatest ever team -- the national side that won three AFCONs in a row between 2006 and 2010 -- continues to loom over the 33-year-old.

For Haytham Mohamed, only success at the AFCON would take Salah to the heart of Pharaohs supporters in the way that Mohamed Aboutrika -- arguably the country's greatest ever player -- continues to be revered almost 18 years after his finest hour.

"Is Salah in the same league as Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, and the greats of African football?" Mohamed asked. "They are great players and legends who were at the top of the African game and the world game.

"There are still questions here in Egypt about whether Salah is our best player ever. Still here, Aboutrika is regarded as our best ever, with Mido talking about his [ahead of the tournament] and reigniting the debate about who's the best Egyptian player ever.

"Salah needs to win the AFCON for his legacy."

While Diaa acknowledges the emotional weight that the Pharaohs' Golden Generation -- a team containing the likes of Ahmed Hassan, Essam El Hadary, Ahmed Fathy, Wael Gomaa, Amr Zaki and Emad Moteab -- still carries today, he believes that Salah's reputation back home is not the same as Aboutrika (and others) only because of the finest margins that ultimately made the difference in his AFCON campaigns to date.

Salah's success in inspiring Egypt to two World Cups, something that always eluded the Golden Generation, also weighs in his favour when comparisons are being made between his legacy and those greats of yesteryear.

"Salah did lead Egypt to two AFCON finals and reach the World Cup twice, which is not too easy to be honest," Diaa added. "He was also one step away from qualifying for two more (they narrowly missed out in 2014 and 2022), and is also the second highest scorer for Egypt."

Haytham Mohammed agrees: "He took Egypt to the World Cup for the first time in almost 30 years of absence [in 2018], and has done it twice [again in 2026]... that's some achievement."

While an AFCON victory in less than 10 days' time could cement Salah's place as Egypt's greatest ever, there is limited confidence back home that this Pharaohs side and head coach Hossam Hassan have enough to get over the line in Morocco.

Pre-tournament forecasts were not promising, and while they've progressed to the latter stages -- with Salah scoring in each of the three matches in which he's featured, including two winning goals -- they approach a quarterfinal clash with reigning champions Ivory Coast as the outsiders.

"It won't be easy [to win]," Mohammed concluded. "The national team doesn't have quality apart from Salah and Omar Marmoush.

"Hassan is not the best coach, many are doubting his abilities, and his capacity to lead this team, so I don't know."

For Diaa, the presence of hosts Morocco, despite some of the troubles they've encountered so far on home soil, represents a considerable obstacle between Egypt and a record-extending eighth African title.

"We can't say this is a bad generation of course, but it's not as good as past generations, including the one from 2006 to 2010, everyone knows that," he concluded.

"Without my emotions, without speaking as an Egypt supporter, I'd say that to win the AFCON in Morocco is very hard.

"To compete with Morocco is hard, to complete with Morocco in Morocco is very hard, particularly when we talk of the performance of the Egypt team recently."

The final word goes to Hady Elmadany, Editorial Manager of Yallakora, one of Egypt's leading football portals, who believes that the situation at Liverpool, and the criticism received from Carragher among others -- both towards the player and the tournament -- could yet spur Salah on to finally leave his mark in Nations Cup history.

"Salah's already played in the final twice and missed both chances to win it, so winning in 2026 would mean a lot for him, especially given the circumstances surrounding him inside Liverpool," he shared with ESPN.

"The AFCON would prove once again that Salah's legacy hasn't reached the end, like some Premier League pundits are saying!"

Many of the Golden Generation who still hold such a prominent place in Egyptian hearts built their legacy on heavyweight AFCON bouts with the Ivory Coast. Remember the 2006 final, where Aboutrika scored the winning penalty in the final after Drogba had missed his spotkick, or the semi in Kumasi two years later, where Zaki scored twice and Aboutrika added a late fourth as the Pharaohs ravaged the Golden Generation 4-1 en route to another crown.

Could this 2026 vintage, and of course Salah, take one step closer to immortality with another landmark win over the Elephants?